The Daily 202: Red state Democrats are proposing lots of ideas to cut taxes and work with Trump

By James Hohmann November 2 at 7:40 AM

THE BIG IDEA:

DUBLIN, Ohio — During a meeting at the White House two weeks ago, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) handed President Trump copies of two tax bills he’s proposed. One would expand access to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit. The other would give tax credits to companies that pay workers at least $15 an hour and offer health-care and retirement benefits.

“Trump said he likes them and, with some enthusiasm, he said that’s what he wants to do, that it’s all about workers and the middle class. He went on a little bit about that,” Brown said in an interview on Monday. “There’s a clear fork in the road. He either works with Democrats or he goes to Mitch McConnell writing a bill in the backroom. … I take the president at his word that he’s going to do the right thing.”

Brown is one of 10 Senate Democrats up for reelection next year in a state that Trump carried in 2016. These lawmakers each insist they are not just willing, but eager, to work with the president on taxes.

The senator believes that voters in his state draw a distinction between Trump, who remains relatively popular in Ohio, and congressional leaders like McConnell and Paul Ryan, who even many Republicans now dislike.

Brown says that he will back Trump up if he tries to follow through on his campaign rhetoric about helping the little guy, but that he won’t go along with the “trickle-down economics” espoused by the Senate majority leader and House speaker.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/11/02/daily-202-red-state-democrats-are-proposing-lots-of-ideas-to-cut-taxes-and-work-with-trump/59fa201130fb0468e7654022